Voters in Snohomish County are choosing their next executive. It is a race between two well-known Democrats with contrasting styles.
The state's third-largest county has never elected a Republican to its highest office. But the decisive factor in this contest may end up being which candidate can attract the most the votes from Snohomish County’s Republicans.
In the wake of the scandals that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon John Lovick is running on a platform of positivity.
In the opening remarks at a candidate’s forum put on by the League of Women Voters in Lynnwood this summer, he repeated an oft-quoted line from a nursery rhyme.
“The sky is not falling. And when people try to tell you that the sky is falling, I want to start by telling you this: I represent — and I’m county executive of the best county in the United States of America, bar none. We have the lowest jobless rate at … 3 point 6 percent. People are working, things are going exceptionally well,” he said.
Lovick, a former sheriff, has presided over two recent tragedies: the Oso Landslide that killed 43 people and the shooting at Marysville Pilchuk High School that killed five. He is widely acknowledged for handling both with a lot of grace.
But his challenger, Dave Somers, a fisheries expert who is the current chair of the Snohomish County Council and known as a policy wonk, says the budget is in crisis. He says the county’s reserves are at an all-time low and says much of that is the incumbent’s fault.
He told the same audience at the candidates forum in Lynnwood that is why he decided to run against his fellow-Democrat.
“Our financial situation is extreme; we’re looking at layoffs at the county. John’s given raises to the top-paid employees at the county; I had to fight against that. He eliminated the finance director position; I had to put it back in the budget. We still don’t have a permanent finance director," Somers said. "So it’s been one thing after another, which really caused me to run.”
Despite those contrasting outlooks, political observers expect the Democratic vote to be fairly evenly split in this race.
Lovick has the support of the party establishment and several key public sector unions. But Somers has environmental groups, as well as developers and the endorsements of major newspapers.
A key question will be who Republicans favor, since they could make up as much as 40 percent of the vote in what is expected to be a very close race.
